Historical instructor

RACHEL BRENNER

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.50/5 from 18 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

CJS430 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Brenner is a brilliant and insightful professor. She is wildly intelligent and kind and genuinely cares for her students, but she can be very short and come off as judgemental on occasion. Lots of readings and short papers due before each class, but it wasn't unbearable. Would definitely recommend her as a professor, but you have to put in effort.
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JS231 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 4/5
Professor Brenner is a wildly intelligent teacher and scholar and I learned a lot from her and her class. That being said, she can be extremely curt and short with students who do not understand what she is attempting to convey. She lacks true patience when students are attempting to reason with her regarding certain issues in her class.
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CJS356 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 2/5
Lots to learn, though Prof Brenner is very particular about doing things her way (ie lectures outside of class). Only 1 exam. Pretty good.
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CJS356 · course not matched
Quality 2/5Difficulty 2/5
Professor Brenner is brilliant. I definitely learned a lot in her course. Unfortunately, I still wouldn't recommend her to others. She is the first instructor I have ever had who goes beyond the occasional rude comment. She can genuinely be cruel, and she takes things very personally. It is impossible to reason with her if she is upset.
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JS356 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
Was a ton of work (readings due before each class period) but she grades very fairly and as long as you put in the work you'll get in A. We were forced to attend 2 mandatory outside lectures during the day while many of us had class, but she made the last one optional for extra credit. She's very passionate and you will definitely learn a lot.
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JEWISH 430
Quality 2/5Difficulty 1/5
She required us to attend 3 lectures outside of designated class time. The lectures were all during the day, when most of us had other classes. She told us if we had another class, we had to miss it or we wouldn't get points. Very smart woman but not very understanding/compassionate
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with RACHEL BRENNER

JEWISH 231 introduces elementary topics in Jewish history.

No offering record · Fall 2020

with this instructor · course overall, matching historical terms

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2016–Fall 2020

JEWISH 430 covers intermediate topics in Jewish literature.

No offering record · Fall 2020

with this instructor · course overall, matching historical terms

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2016–Fall 2020

Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Fall 2020JEWISH 231Elementary Topics in Jewish History
Fall 2020JEWISH 430Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature
Spring 2020JEWISH 356Jerusalem, Holy City of Conflict and Desire
Spring 2020JEWISH 430Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature
Spring 2020RELIGST 400Topics in Religious Studies - Humanities
Fall 2019JEWISH 231Elementary Topics in Jewish History
Fall 2019JEWISH 430Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature
Spring 2019JEWISH 356Jerusalem, Holy City of Conflict and Desire
Spring 2019JEWISH 430Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature
Fall 2018JEWISH 231Elementary Topics in Jewish History
Fall 2018JEWISH 430Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature
Spring 2018JEWISH 356Jerusalem, Holy City of Conflict and Desire
Spring 2018JEWISH 430Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature
Spring 2018JEWISH 699Directed Study
Spring 2018RELIGST 400Topics in Religious Studies - Humanities
Fall 2017JEWISH 231Elementary Topics in Jewish History
Fall 2017JEWISH 430Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature
Spring 2017JEWISH 356Jerusalem, Holy City of Conflict and Desire
Spring 2017JEWISH 432Intermediate Topics in Jewish Philosophy and the Arts
Spring 2017MUSIC 497Special Topics in Music
Spring 2017RELIGST 400Topics in Religious Studies - Humanities
Fall 2016JEWISH 231Elementary Topics in Jewish History
Fall 2016JEWISH 430Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature
Spring 2016JEWISH 356Jerusalem, Holy City of Conflict and Desire
Spring 2016JEWISH 432Intermediate Topics in Jewish Philosophy and the Arts
Spring 2016MUSIC 497Special Topics in Music
Fall 2015JEWISH 231Elementary Topics in Jewish History
Fall 2015JEWISH 430Intermediate Topics in Jewish Literature
Spring 2015CURRIC/EDPOL/HISTORY/JEWISH 515Holocaust: History, Memory and Education
Spring 2015HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 402Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture II
Spring 2015JEWISH 356Jerusalem, Holy City of Conflict and Desire
Fall 2014HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I
Fall 2014JEWISH 356Jerusalem, Holy City of Conflict and Desire
Spring 2014HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 402Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture II
Fall 2013HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I
Fall 2013JEWISH 356Jerusalem, Holy City of Conflict and Desire
Spring 2013HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 402Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture II
Fall 2012HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I
Spring 2012HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 402Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture II
Fall 2011HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I
Spring 2011HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 402Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture II
Fall 2010HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I
Spring 2010HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 402Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture II
Fall 2009HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I
Spring 2009HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 402Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture II
Fall 2008HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I
Fall 2007HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I
Fall 2006HEBR-MOD/JEWISH 401Topics in Modern Hebrew / Israeli Literature and Culture I

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance
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